Wednesday November 02, 2022
KING’S Lynn’s season ended with a 50-34 defeat at a soggy Owlerton as Sheffield claimed the silverware in the League Cup Final.

No.1 Richard Lawson put in a sensational display for the Minors & Brady Stars but there was never any serious chance of them overcoming a 12-point first leg deficit, and the Tigers went on to win the Cup by 28 points on aggregate.

It was something of a miracle that the much-delayed meeting went ahead at all, with early evening rain in South Yorkshire leaving conditions heavily affected – but the Sheffield staff did a great job to get it on, with the action commencing at around 8.30pm and then running at breakneck speed to beat a subsequent downpour.

Any hopes the Stars had of putting some pressure on the Tigers were extinguished within three races as, despite a clear win for Lawson in Heat 1, the next two races saw the home side collect back-to-back 5-1s.

Lawson stemmed the tide with wins in Heats 4 and 5 with the Stars operating rider replacement for the absent Nicolai Klindt, but as the meeting continued his only significant support came from Richie Worrall, whereas the Tigers scored right down their line-up.

A trio of 4-2s in Heats 7, 8 and 9 increased the advantage on the night to 14 points with Tobiasz Musielak producing a spectacular effort to pass Worrall on the line in the first of those.

Worrall and Thomas Jorgensen managed to share Heat 10 at the expense of former Stars man Lewis Kerr, but a win in that race for Sheffield guest Sam Masters was enough to mathematically secure the Cup.

Lawson won a classic scrap with Musielak in Heat 11 as the Stars notched an advantage, and Worrall produced a fine effort to pass Ellis on the first lap of Heat 12 before Musielak finally ended Lawson’s winning run.

There was more competitive action in Heat 14 as home captain Kyle Howarth and guest James Wright battled with Jorgensen, who eventually came to grief, confirming a 5-1 for the Tigers.

That turned out to be the final race of the night as rain returned prior to Heat 15, resulting in referee Chris Durno calling a halt to proceedings.

PREMIERSHIP LEAGUE CUP FINAL, 2nd leg
SHEFFIELD 50: Adam Ellis 10, Tobiasz Musielak 9+1, Connor Mountain 9+1, Kyle Howarth 7+2, Sam Masters 7+1, Lewis Kerr 5, James Wright 3+1
KING'S LYNN 34: Richard Lawson 14, Richie Worrall 9+1, Thomas Jorgensen 3+1, Frederik Jakobsen 3, Jason Edwards 3, Tom Brennan 2+1, Nicolai Klindt r/r
Abandoned after 14 heats due to rain - Result STANDS
Sheffield win 101-73 on aggregate